Review: Anker PowerCore 10000 Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Pack

Our smartphones are getting more and more advanced. Our batteries are getting larger and larger. But most smartphones still can't last us an entire day, unfortunately. With many smartphones going the route of sealing the batteries inside, many users have had to go the route of getting an external battery pack. It's actually a better solution, seeing as these battery packs can charge anything that uses USB. While an extended battery would only work for one particular smartphone. Anker has released a new battery pack in their PowerCore lineup, and this one features Quick Charge 3.0 technology - available on a select few smartphones right now. We've been using it with an LG G5 for the past couple of weeks, so how does it stack up to the competition? Is it better than just a standard battery pack? Let's find out.

First things first, this is the Anker PowerCore 10000 battery pack, and as you can tell by the name, it has a capacity of 10,000mAh. It's actually fairly small, even with a 10,000mAh capacity. In fact, the picture above shows this PowerCore 10000 versus the PowerCore 10000 from last year that featured Quick Charge 2.0 technology. It's shorter, lighter and even a bit thinner. This battery pack features a somewhat rugged design. It's rugged, but doesn't look ugly. Allowing you to still have a great looking battery pack, but one that can take a drop or two - that doesn't mean we condone dropping this battery pack though. We have a power button on the side, which will illuminate the four LED lights on the front of the PowerCore 10000. These four LED lights represent how much power is left - with each one representing roughly 25%. On the top, there is a micro USB port, which is used for charging the PowerCore 10000. And we have the full-sized USB port next to it.

Quick Charge 3.0 is one of my favorite features to be added in smartphones this year. It makes topping off your smartphone so much easier and quicker. With Quick Charge 3.0, you can go from 0 to about 80% in roughly 35 minutes. With my experience with the LG G5, I can go from under 20% to 100% in just over an hour, with a Quick Charge 3.0 wall adapter. Now with the Anker PowerCore 10000, I had roughly the same experience. I was able to get a complete charge in about 75 minutes. When you think about it, that's still pretty darn good. Quick Charge 3.0 is only compatible with a few smartphones right now (including the HTC One A9, HTC 10, LG G5, Xiaomi Mi 5, Lenovo ZUK Z2 Pro and a few others). For those that own a device that doesn't support Quick Charge 3.0, don't worry. As was the case with Quick Charge 2.0 and Quick Charge 1.0, this technology is backwards compatible. So if you own the Samsung Galaxy S7, which is compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, you can still charge your device with the Anker PowerCore 10000 without risking damaging your smartphone.

When it comes to portability, you won't find another power bank that is as portable - at this capacity - than the Anker PowerCore 10000. Not only is this power bank nice and small and compact, but it is also fairly lightweight. This means you can keep it in your pocket (or ladies, in your purse) and use it when needed. And because it does have a 10,000mAh capacity, it means that you'll be able to charge your smartphone roughly three times before it runs out of juice. That of course depends on your smartphone. Something like the Galaxy S7 Edge, with a 3600mAh battery, will only see about two full recharges. But the LG G5 with a 2800mAh battery saw a little over 3 full recharges. While I was traveling this month, I took this power bank with me, and it made it easy to top off my LG G5 while on a plane, so that I had a full charge by the time I needed to get off. And because of how small it is, it was able to fit in my bag without taking up much space.

Anker has always put out some rather high-quality products. Even something as simple as a power bank, looks and feels rather high-end. It's something that they have become known for, and that's definitely not a bad thing. The Anker PowerCore 10000 continues that trend. There's not much to dislike here, the PowerCore 10000 has actually replaced the older Quick Charge 2.0-compatible PowerCore 10000 that I used to carry around - which shouldn't be a surprise. But, it's worth noting that this power bank isn't for everyone. The main reason is due to Quick Charge 3.0. Currently, Quick Charge 3.0 isn't available on most smartphones. We've even seen a few smartphones opt to not include the technology - like the Sony Xperia X, Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. However that likely won't be the case for long, especially with Summer and Fall upon us. Right now the list of Quick Charge 3.0 devices is fairly short, listing less than ten right now. So we'd have to say that if you don't have a smartphone that utilizes Quick Charge 3.0, or don't plan on picking one up that supports it, you may not want to pick this PowerCore 10000 up. Simply because it is more expensive than traditional power banks and even Quick Charge 2.0 power banks. So you can save yourself some cash and get something cheaper. However, if you are picking up a smartphone with Quick Charge 3.0, or already have one with that technology, then it's definitely worth picking up.

This power bank is still fairly cheap, when you think about it. Anker sells it exclusively on Amazon for just $21.99. In the box you get a micro USB cable as well, so you are able to charge up the power bank. Anker also gives you a pouch, that's pretty useful for traveling. Additionally, you get an 18-month warranty from Anker, so that if anything should happen, you'll be taken care of. Anker has also built-in a slew of safety measures to ensure that whatever device you have plugged into your Anker PowerCore 10000 will be safe, and won't overcharge. Or in a worse-case scenario, catch on fire.

Alex has written for Androidheadlines since 2012 as Editor of the site and traveled the World to many of the biggest Smartphone and Technology events. Alex has a background in Technology and IT and Deep Passion for Everything Android and Google. His specialties lay in Smartphones of all budgets, Accessories, Home Automation and more. Contact him at [email protected]